MAGIC’S FIRST TECH INCUBATION PROJECT

MAGIC PRESENTS ITS FIRST TECH INCUBATION PROJECT: A WIRELESS NETWORK FOR THE CELTIC CANTER

MAGIC, the new technology incubator in Westminster, MD presents the first Tech Incubation project in collaboration with Freedom Broadband and Ting Internet, on March 12th in downtown Westminster. Students from local high schools and the Career &Tech Center have worked with Freedom Broadband over the last several weeks to design, build and operate a temporary wireless network for the Celtic Canter and Downtown Irish Celebration. The students are an informal group of friends, calling themselves “The Packet Throwers”, who are technology enthusiasts. This is the first of a continuous calendar of projects to further develop the technology skills of local tech youth, create opportunities for innovation, and continue building a technology culture in Carroll County.

Many of the Packet Throwers are graduates of the Carroll County Public Schools Cisco certification program offered by the Career and Tech Center. They expressed an interest to MAGIC for more technology learning opportunities. MAGIC responded by developing the Tech Incubation projects.

Freedom Broadband, a strong supporter of technology in the community and Carroll County’s leading provider of wireless broadband, immediately stepped up to the plate to supervise the wireless networking project. Ting Internet is providing gigabit backhaul on the Westminster Fiber Network, which will give all festival goers an unprecedented amount of bandwidth for their wireless devices as they watch the race and walk around downtown Westminster enjoying the Irish Celebration.

The City of Westminster Parks and Recreation Department has counted on Freedom Wireless for several years to provide wireless access for City events. Now with the gigabit services provided by Ting on the Westminster Fiber Network, even more broadband innovation is now possible in Westminster.

PARTNERS

MAGIC (the Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory) is a non-profit 501c(3) technology incubator in Westminster, MD with the mission of fostering economic development, creating technology jobs, and nurturing innovation and technology start-ups, leveraging the gigabit services enabled by the Westminster Fiber Network. For additional information about MAGIC, contact Robert Wack, 443-340-3227, or email rwack1@comcast.net.

Freedom Broadband is a wholly owned subsidiary of InfoPathways, Inc. InfoPathways is a locally owned and operated IT company based in downtown Westminster. Freedom Broadband provides last mile high speed internet with unlimited data to those who don’t have access to traditional internet service providers. For more information about InfoPathways and Freedom Broadband, call at 410-751-9929 or email info@infopathways.com.

The City of Westminster is building the Westminster Fiber Network, the only community wide gigabit fiber network in the mid-Atlantic region, and is the sponsor of the Celtic Canter and Downtown Irish Celebration, in addition to many other community events through the year. For additional information, please see the City web page (www.westgov.com) or call 410-848-9000.